He seems intent on removing his reputation of being a conservative manager after picking five strikers, including 18-year-old Manchester United rookie Marcus Rashford.

Hodgson, who is out of contract after the Euros and is being made to wait for a decision on whether he'll be kept on for the World Cup qualifiers, is under pressure from the Football Association to deliver attacking football in France, and also reach the semi-finals.

Incredibly, England have scored just ten tournament goals since their elimination from the 2006 World Cup, and it is that worrying statistic which Hodgson is determined to address.

So he is gambling with his squad, particularly taking just seven defenders to allow him to squeeze in another forward.

Hodgson also left it late to finalise his squad. He was waiting on the fitness of Daniel Sturridge , who only trained with the rest of the squad for the first time on Monday having reported for duty last weekend.

That was the biggest question mark for Hodgson, who had wanted to name his final squad well before Tuesday night’s UEFA deadline to put the players out of their misery.

He put back the originally scheduled announcement after losing Danny Welbeck in Arsenal's penultimate game of the season, then postponed it again from last weekend while waiting on Sturridge, and kept the players guessing right up to Tuesday lunchtime.

Even those closest to him saw a big change in Hodgson’s manner in the last few days, going from jovial, friendly manager to being distant and stern.

It was as much to give away no clues about who he was going to pick as worrying about one of the biggest decisions of his four-year reign.

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After all, his whole future as England boss depends on getting it right this summer.

The players trained as normal on Tuesday, taking to the pitch at Watford’s Hertfordshire HQ at 10.30am with only guesswork as a guide to who might miss out.

Full-back Ryan Bertrand sat it out to get extra treatment, Sturridge did his second training session in as many days and then the players went back to the team hotel, five miles down the road, arriving into the foyer in dribs and drabs.

Hodgson and assistants Gary Neville and Ray Lewington came back separately and had a meeting to check on any last-minute issues or problems.

The manager wanted it to be his decision, even keeping back some of his thinking from Lewington in the previous 24 hours.

Then, as the players filtered down for a buffet-style lunch, Hodgson took Andros Townsend and Danny Drinkwater individually to his hotel room, breaking the bad news in meetings lasting ten minutes each.

Drinkwater got the news he had been axed in a private meeting with Roy Hodgson (Image: Action Images via Reuters / Carl Recine)

Hodgson felt he was loyal to Newcastle winger Townsend even when he was out of the team at Tottenham but the odds were always against him even if he was the only natural winger in the squad.

He stressed it was not a choice between Drinkwater and fellow midfielder Jordan Henderson, but picking the versatile Eric Dier allowed him to also provide defensive cover so that he could include Rashford as the fifth striker.

Drinkwater spoke to Leicester team-mate Jamie Vardy while Townsend shared his bad news with Spurs pal Harry Kane before both made quick getaways in cars which had been laid on for them.

Townsend had an uphill battle to make the 23 despite the squad's lack of natural width (Image: AFP/Getty)

Hodgson then called a team meeting which lasted all of five minutes and saw the England boss display the 23-man squad's numbers on a big screen via a projector.

The allocated shirt numbers may give Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Kane and Gary Cahill a boost, but whether they actually mean anything remains to be seen.

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It is a squad which provides attacking threat - Wayne Rooney could drop into midfield, as he has done for Manchester United in recent weeks, while Adam Lallana and Raheem Sterling could play the wide roles in a front three.

There are options there as, once again, Hodgson - despite his image - continues to surprise, giving his team a licence to thrill this summer.